Humanity's Last Hope
by mirror-cannibal
Summary: Eren has lost all memories, waking up on a bloody battlefield. He finds one living soldier and makes it his final goal to get them both to safety, wherever that may be. Will they succeed? Or are they already doomed?
Eren looked out over the field, devoid of sound or movement. _What have I done?_ That was somehow his first thought, and it scared him, because he didn't know the answer. Crimson blood dripped from every blade of grass, where the sun-scorched dirt hungrily sucked it up. _Where am I? What happened?_ He had no memory of—anything, really. He had just opened his eyes moments before to see the field, empty of all life but himself, kneeling on the blood-soaked ground all alone among bodies of fallen soldiers.

He stood up, knees shaking, when he saw a nearby body's fingers twitch, catching his eye. _Is he still alive?_ The body lay upon a patch of flowers, which was beautiful in a sad and serene sort of way. Their delicate white petals were torn and crushed, stained red with his blood. _Wait, why am I thinking of the flowers?_ Eren dropped to his knees by the soldier's head, lifting him and noticing he was breathing.

Eren didn't notice any overly severe external injuries on the black-haired man, but he was definitely breathing, the painful sound of every inhale like knives grating against steel, cutting directly into Eren's heart. There was blood around the man's mouth, shining metallically in the harsh afternoon sunlight. _Internal bleeding? Is there any way I can save him?_ The soldier's eyes suddenly opened for a second. "Eren?" he spoke, struggling to get the two syllables out of his throat. Eren gasped.

"Do you know me? Where am I? Why can't I remember anything? Who are you? What happened here?" Eren frantically questioned the black-haired man. The soldier couldn't speak anymore, but he looked to his left. Eren followed his gaze to see tall walls rising in the distance, poking out over the horizon. "Do we have to go there? Is that where help is?" Eren asked, but when he looked back, the soldier was unconscious. "Hey! Damn it…"

Eren looked around the field, but none of the other fallen soldiers seemed anywhere near living anymore. _I can at least save one…_ he thought, looking down at the mysterious black-haired soldier, whose chest shook with each pain-filled breath. Eren gently picked the man up, noticing with surprise the soldier's heaviness, despite his small frame. Eren gently slung the smaller man over his shoulder, wincing as the soldier's breath stopped momentarily.

Eren stumbled a bit, but got into a steady pace as he started walking, making his way to the walls. He tried to keep his footing even, listening to the ragged breathing of the injured soldier over his shoulder. He passed body after body, none moving. At first he would stop to check if they were alive, but after a while he gave up. The sun was directly overhead. Some sixth sense told him that he didn't want to spend the night outside those walls. He had no idea what kind of battle had occurred here, but he had picked up a sword from another fallen soldier just in case there was still lurking danger. He held the sword in his left hand, his other arm holding the black-haired soldier to his shoulder.

The walls didn't look like they were getting any closer. Eren had no way of telling the time, but the sun was definitely no longer overhead. His shadow was lengthening quickly. _What do I do? There's no way I'll reach them by nightfall._ His legs were beginning to hurt, his back and shoulders aching from the soldier's weight. Suddenly there was a loud, low grumble that shook the ground.

 _What was that?_ Eren jumped, and the soldier he was carrying let out a breath of pain, still unconscious. The ground shook again, then again, repeated booms. Eren glanced behind him to see a giant humanoid figure slowly walking towards him, at least 15 meters tall with beady black eyes and a huge mouth full of sharp teeth. As Eren watched, the strange giant picked up its pace, swinging its deformed arms as it ran towards him.

Eren's heart skipped a few beats and then he was running, sprinting towards the walls as fear pumped his legs forward, forgetting about the injured man over his shoulder who struggled with each breath like it was his last. Eren dared to look behind him, only to see the titan even closer than he had thought possible, as well as even bigger than he had thought possible.

Before he knew what was happening, the titan's hand was swinging down on him, striking the ground mere feet behind him. The earth buckled beneath Eren and he was flying, not knowing which way was up or down, the sword long gone but his grip on the soldier still strong. Dizzy and confused, he widened his eyes to see the ground way too closer and, to his horror, on his right side—the side he held the unconscious man.

With a gasp, Eren automatically kicked his leg out, his scream of pain sounding far away to his own ears as his ankle shattered, the white-hot pain blooming and shooting down his foot and up his leg. But it had done what he had hoped; the painful sacrifice had spun him in the air and he landed hard on his back instead of his side, the breath knocked out of him but the unconscious soldier still safe, laying on top of Eren.

Eren struggled to breathe as the titan began to swing its hand down again. The pain in his ankle was unbearable, the shattered remnants of bone grinding and pinching nerves. His heart was racing as he stared at the being that would end his life, chest aching as he struggled to draw in one last breath, just one more reminder of how it felt to have lungs full of sweet air. He gripped tightly to the black-haired man, wondering why he instinctively kicked out before, why he had chosen to risk his own life for the soldier instead of saving himself.

The titan's hand came closer, seemingly in slow motion. It blocked out what was left of the sunlight and Eren knew this was the end for him. _Just one more breath…I need one more breath before I go…_ The soldier on Eren's chest opened his eyes, wheezing painfully. "Er…en?" he spoke softly, and the titan's hand blocked out all hope of life for the two brave soldiers.

Neither Eren Jaeger nor Captain Levi knew the sweetness of breathing after that. There was no one left to mourn their deaths, no one left to explain to Eren how the trauma he had witnessed on the battlefield that day had caused him to create a memory block. The human race had been completely wiped out; if Eren had gotten close enough to his final goal, he would have seen the walls crumbled and the streets empty but for gore. There was no help for them there. There was no longer any human to pass down the stories of the bravery of all the Survey Corps soldiers, who each fought until their last breath to keep humanity alive. But there was no longer anything left to save; humanity was wiped out, along with its strongest and its last hope.

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 **Yeah, honestly I have no idea what I was thinking when I was writing this...I have nothing else to say xD**

 **Please review! Am I crazy? Do you like it? You have a whole keyboard at your disposal, write with it what you will and tell me wtf this story even is. Thanks for reading!**


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